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We have all we need to beat the HIV epidemic – except political will

The contrast in regional HIV figures in Europe makes it clear that we have the tools to end the global epidemic, but they are not being properly applied everywhere

By Deborah Gold

NEWLY released HIV figures tell a story of two European epidemics. New diagnoses over the past 10 years have increased by 68 per cent in eastern Europe and 121 per cent in central Europe. There have been more than 137,000 new diagnoses across the regions in the past year, says a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe. Meanwhile in western Europe, new diagnoses have fallen 20 per in the past two years, with some 25,000 diagnoses in 2017.